[Infowarrior] - The rise of technology addiction

[Richard Forno]

 The rise of technology addiction

The seemingly exponential growth of portable technology has sparked fears
that people are becoming addicted or swamped by gadgets and their uses.

One major consequence of this phenomenon is that the line between work and
private life is much more blurred, now that e-mail and phones provide a
24-hour link between employers and staff.

Experts believe that even the decision-making process of the average person
can be adversely affected.

However, others think that the bombardment of various communications can
enhance the brain's ability to process information.

Addiction symptoms

Nada Kakabadse, a Professor at the Northampton Business School, said: "Your
judgement is impaired. Equally your decision making processes are impaired.

"It's like losing your spatial judgement, so instead of walking through the
door you walk into it. You're more prone to have a car accident if you
drive."

Prof Kakabadse added: "It's addiction to portable technology, which you take
with you practically to bed, the cinema, to the theatre, to a dinner party.
The symptoms are, like with any other addiction, that people spend more time
using their technology than spending it in socialising or in family time."

The growing importance of the issue was highlighted at a gathering in
Geneva, Switzerland, for the LIFT 07 technology conference.

One of the conclusions reached by experts was that "tech overload" is the
price people have to pay for always-on communication, where the line between
work and play has become blurred.

In fact, there is even some evidence that being bombarded with information
from all directions is actually beneficial.

Professor Fred Mast, of the University of Lausanne, said: "I think that we
can become overloaded. It depends on the situation, but I think we are
underestimating the brain's capacity to adapt to new challenges.

"Studies have been done showing that people can actually enhance their
cognitive abilities, which helps them to process more information at the
same time. And their performance even transfers to other tasks."

Experts have also noted how different types of technology have developed
their own etiquette.

For instance, an e-mail can wait two days to be answered but a text message
demands an almost immediate reply.

Stefana Broadbent from Swisscom said: "E-mail is considered the most formal.
At the other end of the spectrum SMS is the most personal of all.

"That's where we find all those little exchanges, little endearments, what
we call grooming, which is sending: 'I think about you. How did it go? How
did you sleep?'

He added: "That is actually given by the number of characters. With such few
characters, you have to have a lot of mutual understanding and mutual
knowledge."

Prof Kakabadse added that prioritising was a vital way to prevent
communication overload.

She said: "I really think it is the responsibility of the individual to
prioritise. Even if an employee pushes the boundaries, do discuss with the
employee in a constructive way how we can do things better without being
overloaded."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/click_online/6411495.stm

Published: 2007/03/02 15:31:44 GMT

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